What Are Trauma Responses?

During a traumatic experience (any event that overwhelms our nervous system) our brains and bodies will respond automatically and without conscious choice. ⁠These instinctive trauma responses happen in milliseconds outside of our conscious awareness. This means the pre-frontal cortex (thinking brain) is offline and there is no conscious decision being made. Our body and nervous system is responding to the information it receives and makes the best possible determination of what response needs to be activated. ⁠

Below I have described some of the trauma responses that we may experience at the time of a trauma event as well as after a trauma event when we are triggered.

The Fight Response

When the body perceives a threat the fight response may be activated and we will engage with what is threatening. The sympathetic nervous system (our system of mobilization and movement) is activated. Cortisol and other stress hormones are produced to support our efforts to survive some sort of attack. ⁠

In a fight response, our breathing and heart rate speed up, to oxygenate the blood, energizing our major muscle groups. Blood drains away from our heads and feet and is used elsewhere to minimise blood loss and harm as these are areas that can be damaged in a fight. Our Pupils dilate which allows our peripheral vision to increase. ⁠The fight response might look like physical engagement through pushing, pulling, hitting, kicking etc or verbal protests, expressions of anger, rage, opposition and defiance or argument. ⁠

The Flight Response⁠

When the body perceives a threat the flight response may be activated and we prepare to move as far away as possible from the potential threat.

The sympathetic nervous system (our system of mobilization and movement) is activated. Cortisol and other stress hormones are produced and signal us to move away from danger or threat. ⁠

In a flight response, our body mobilizes energy to run away or remove us from a dangerous situation as quickly as possible.

⁠We may walk, run or find some other way to escape the potential threat we are experiencing. ⁠ The nervous system is supporting us to get as far away from the potential danger or threat as possible by not engaging with it.

The Freeze response

When the body perceives a threat that is inescapable and our system does not see a way out of danger through the fight/flight response, the freeze response may be activated. ⁠In a freeze response, both our sympathetic and dorsal vagal systems are activated at the same time. ⁠We are filled with adrenaline but also not able to mobilize into action due to the dorsal vagal system being Your primitive brain drops you into the freeze response where you can’t physically move, you may be able to think or may not be able to.⁠

The freeze response is one of our most adaptive responses and provides the greatest chance of survival in the wild for all small mammals (including humans). Freeze also is an important response that allows us to try and camouflage and minimise harm to the body whilst holding the survival energy of fight or flight, should the option become viable to engage in fight or flight. ⁠

THE FAWN/SUBMIT RESPONSE

In the case of the fawn/submit response (sometimes referred to as please and appease) there may be times when this response is more conscious. The fawn response is a unique combination of our social engagement system and our sympathetic nervous system.⁠ In the wild fawn/submit is like an animal displaying its belly to a predator, hoping they will see them as less of a threat and move on to something else.⁠

It is a highly adaptive response where when we are in danger and threatened by another person/person's we inhibit our fight/fight response as we may not be able to escape and use our social engagement skills and 'fawn/submit' to send the message to those harming us that we will comply and that we pose no threat.⁠This is not because we are a willing participant or because we like the person, but rather because we are doing our best to survive the experience and again get to a place where we can move to fight or flight should this option become available.⁠

The fawn response can also be seen in extreme versions of people-pleasing, showing compliance and helpfulness to avoid/minimise abuse, it can help a person diffuse conflict and return to a feeling of safety by disregarding their own feelings and well-being.⁠

The DORSAL VAGAL Collapse response

When the body perceives a threat that is inescapable and our system does not see a way out of danger through the fight/flight response and the freeze response is not going to be effective we move into a dorsal vagal collapse. ⁠

⁠In a collapse response, our dorsal vagal system is activated. The collapse response is adaptive because as an animal in the wild this response can fool a predator into thinking that you’re already dead. Most predators in the animal kingdom prefer live prey vs dead and they may overlook an animal in a collapse response. ⁠

⁠The difference between a collapse response and a freeze response is that opposed to the body being rigid and tense and the stored survival energy on standby to move into fight or flight should the option become available, is that the collapse response is a shutdown response. Heart rate, blood pressure and temperature drop and the muscles of the body go flaccid. ⁠⁠

As the body starts to shut down there may be numbness and blankness. Leading up to the collapse response we see dissociation aka altered states of consciousness - the escape when there is no escape, as well as a flood of opioids that are released so the body can inhibit any potential pain as it prepares for life threat and death. ⁠

The Attach Cry for help response

When the body perceives a threat, it may activate the attach/cry for help response. In a attach/cry for help response both the sympathetic nervous system and the dorsal vagal system may be activated at different times. ⁠The attach/cry-for-help response is one of the earliest survival strategies a child develops to elicit help from a caregiver and can also be a defensive adaptation to trauma. ⁠

The attach/cry for help response is where there is a sense of desperation and insistent seeking that happens as we try and get the care and attention of another human being. It is linked to our affect system of panic. ⁠

In adulthood, the attach/cry for help response can look like behaviours where a person may insistently seek contact with someone, have tumultuous relationships due to the level of demand and need a person has, idealizing certain people or behaving in child-like ways wanting to be taken care of by another person.

What Are Trauma Responses?